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4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I'm not a historian or even someone who holds history as a hobby. I can't say the fall of the USSR is something I've been very curious about. (I can say my understanding of it, previous to reading this book, was entirely, and unfortunately, derived from Reagan-era propaganda).
But I have gotten more curious about some of history's events as I've gotten older. And, additionally, when I saw this book recommended in a socialist group, it sparked curiosity about the long-term viability of socialism, a desire to understand if socialism can be viewed as a realistic alternative (improvement) to a "liberal" society.
To that end, I think the book did a good job of helping me understand the finer nuance of the discussion, as well as the many factors involved in why the USSR fell (such as the so-called second economy, imperialist interests, Gorbachev's role, and so on.) and whether socialism in any intrinsic way failed.
The book moves methodically and clearly, and provides an extensive amount of footnotes to back its points as well as to provide jumping off points for those who may want to dig deeper. I don't think that's me, at least not at this point in time, but I will say that I enjoyed reading through this book, the ideas it exposed me to, and the take-away that socialism can (and perhaps must) succeed.
Well worth the read for anyone with an interest in the viability and benefits of socialism crossed with recent Russian history (primarily focused on the build up to and the era of Gorbachev's leadership).
But I have gotten more curious about some of history's events as I've gotten older. And, additionally, when I saw this book recommended in a socialist group, it sparked curiosity about the long-term viability of socialism, a desire to understand if socialism can be viewed as a realistic alternative (improvement) to a "liberal" society.
To that end, I think the book did a good job of helping me understand the finer nuance of the discussion, as well as the many factors involved in why the USSR fell (such as the so-called second economy, imperialist interests, Gorbachev's role, and so on.) and whether socialism in any intrinsic way failed.
The book moves methodically and clearly, and provides an extensive amount of footnotes to back its points as well as to provide jumping off points for those who may want to dig deeper. I don't think that's me, at least not at this point in time, but I will say that I enjoyed reading through this book, the ideas it exposed me to, and the take-away that socialism can (and perhaps must) succeed.
Well worth the read for anyone with an interest in the viability and benefits of socialism crossed with recent Russian history (primarily focused on the build up to and the era of Gorbachev's leadership).
Those of us who grew up in the West in the 1980’s during the Cold War and saw live on our television sets the transformation and fall of the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact Communist Governments, we had all always grown up led to believe that those moments in history were proof that marxism and communism was always doomed to fail. Moreover, we grew up being led and told to admire the leader of the URSS who has made possible the change, Gobarchov and his policies of Perestroika and glasnost. Seldom, if ever, has any western writer or media outlet done a serious and deep investigation and analysis of what led to the fall of the USSR, this is what this book does. It is a deep analysis of the inexplicable, unjustified, unnecessary and arbitrary economical and political decisions made by Gorbachov and his inner circle, in particular during the last half of the 1980’s, that led to the swift disintegration of the second most powerful economy in the world, to the rise of nationalism that were long forgotten and ultimately to the disappearance of the communist world and with it the power balance of the Cold War. Socialism and all its ideals and principles had been betrayed. History has proved that the world was a better place, the workers across the world even in capitalist economies had achieved rights that have now been stripped away, the fear of nuclear war and the mutual fear/respect between the two blocks kept a relative world peace that now seems from other generations. The fall of the USSR, motivated and accelerated by bizarre policies was a betrayal to everything it was meant to be and was for over 80 years.
informative
fast-paced
Extremely informative. Since I live in the United States most of the information taught about this subject is capitalist and American propaganda. This was a fair analysis from a socialist perspective. It was also a nuanced perspective, which attributes the fall of the Soviet Union to many factors most of which were internal. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is truly interested in learning about what led to the decline and eventual dismantling of the USSR. Its eventual demise was not inevitable and could have survived, evolved and even thrived if the will of those in positions of power actually believed in the original vision of the USSR, as a society based a planned economy where the means of production are controlled by the state for the benefit of the working class.
informative
medium-paced
Packed with so much background information and citings from scholars and historians about what lead to the soviet bloc collapsing. It also sets the stage from an already very volatile soviet union prior to Gorbachev due to revisionist policies and ineptitude. A must read for leftists.
informative
fast-paced